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The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. For over three generations, the Academy has connected millions of people to great poetry through programs such as National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world; Poets.org, the Academy’s popular website; American Poets, a biannual literary journal; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events. Since its founding, the Academy has awarded more money to poets than any other organization.

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The Last 4 Things [That hard thread]

Kate Greenstreet

That hard thread
between us.
Is it gold? Do I have to be
so outshined by my curtain?
Opened,
especially by breaking.
people who would die
people who would almost
die and
who would be injured
My dad was in the water.
Across an unprecedented space.
It would rain
for days, they said
he'd come home.
[lists the father's wounds]
That hard thread
is a bone. Is made of bone.
When I was
alone,
a girl,
the first loss,
between tunnels...
I didn't need so much.
I'd eventually get hungry.

Kate Greenstreet

by this poet

Unexpected meetings occur in a forest,
on a mountain,
by the sea.
I shook hands with the men.
I'm disappearing.
Something
in me
is disappearing.
So. Is that a yes?
Some of us have taken off our wigs.
The immense, the colossal weight
of our hope. Sex is part of it.
Do you think I’m pretty?
[The